Domestic solid waste incinerator

ABSTRACT

An incinerator for use in a residential kitchen with a box-like housing enclosing a combustion chamber formed by an inner liner and a top-opening access cover. The inner liner has a forwardly inclined semi-cylindrical front wall and a bottom wall generally perpendicular to the said front wall, as well as generally vertical side and rear walls. A reversible, slow-motion, motordriven agitator is present in the bottom of the combustion chamber to shift the position of the solid-combustible load, as well as to break up the carbonized residue. The front wall of the incinerator housing has a loading door that is connected by a linkage mechanism to the access cover whereby they move in unison for ease in loading the combustion chamber.

United States Patent Eff Inventor:

Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

Louisville, Ky.

Feb. 29, 1972 US. Cl. 110/8 R, 110/173 C Int. Cl. F23g 3/04 Field of Search 110/8 R, 173 R, 173 C; 220/29 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Shirai 110/8 R Altmann 110/8 R Ahnell 220/29 X Bielefeldt 1 10/173 R X Pan et a1. 110/8 R Jan. 29, 1974 Primary Examiner-Meyer Perlin Assistant Examiner-Ronald C. Capossela Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Richard L. Caslin [57] ABSTRACT An incinerator for use in a residential kitchen with a box-like housing enclosing a combustion chamber formed by an inner liner and a top-opening access cover. The inner liner has a forwardly inclined semicylindrical front wall and a bottom wall generally perpendicular to the said front wall, as well as generally vertical side and rear walls. A reversible, slow-motion, motor-driven agitator is present in the bottom of the combustion chamber to shift the position of the solidcombustible load, as well as to break up the carbonized residue. The front wallof the incinerator housing has a loading door that is connected by a linkage mechanism to the access cover whereby they move in unison for ease in loading the combustion chamber.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is related to a prior filed copending application of the present inventor entitled, Solid Waste Incinerator, application Ser. No. 207,161, which was filed in the U.S. Patent Office on Dec. 13, 1971, and issued on July 3, 1973 as Pat. No. 3,742,874. The prior application is based on the incinerating process that is employed, while the present application is directed to the construction and nature of the combustion chamber as well as the loading and cover sealing means therefor. Many of the same drawings of the prior application are utilized in this application to illustrate this invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the art of solid waste incinerators in general, and particularly to a domestic incinerator which would be installed in the kitchen and would be able to consume the amount of solid combustibles that accumulates in the average-size household. There is an ever-growing trend to use more packaged and prepared foods, disposable consumer items and obtain more newspapers and other kinds of reading materials. The disposal of this household waste and trash has become a major problem. In a typical metropolitan area, residential waste accounts for almost 40 percent of all waste tonnage generated. The waste collection agencies are severely overloaded in coping with the growing volume of household trash accumulation, as well as grass clippings, leaves and shrubbery trimmings that accumulate in the yard.

At the same time, air and water pollution are serious national problems. Together, waste disposal and environmental pollution present a dual problem that to date has defied adequate solutions. Over the years, most solid waste has been burned in municipal incinerators or used for land fill. Each method, however, contributes to pollution. The principle alternative to incineration, that is land fill, also faces increasingly severe limitations. Some major metropolitan areas are running out of land in which to dump solid waste. An estimated two-thirds of the cost of waste disposal is in its collection. As labor costs increase and per capita generation of waste increases, these costs are also due to increase. Many local building codes require Class A flues for domestic incinerators, and this has been a deterrent to the growth of the market of such incinerators. Today, the concern over air pollution also is an additional limiting factor. In working toward a solution to the total problem of solid waste disposal, domestic incinerators have so far played a minor role. Admittedly, a domestic incinerator can only handle solid waste combustibles like paper. cardboard and other cellulose materials, plastics, food waste and the like, biodegradeable material, and cannot handle such things as glass, metals, aerosol cans, liquid volatiles and the like, which should be disposed of by some other method. The use of domestic trash compactors installed in or near the kitchen is also growing in acceptance as an aid to the trash collection process. Moreover, the use of food waste disposers has been of significant help in reducing the amount of waste, as it has been estimated that food waste accounts for approximately 16 percent of the household waste.

If the option of on-site domestic incineration is eliminated by governmental ecology restrictions, future costs of waste disposal would rise even higher. It behooves the major appliance industry to perfect and offer a practical domestic incinerator that operates efficiently and does not contribute to existing air pollution problems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS My invention will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an electric incinerator of the present invention installed in a line of kitchen base cabinets.

FIG. 2 is a right side, cross sectional elevational view on an enlarged scale of the incinerator of FIG. 1, with some parts broken away to show a large combustion chamber having a top-access cover that is connected by a linkage mechanism to a front-loading door, as well as showing the front wall of the combustion chamber as being inclined forwardly at about 30 to the vertical, and an agitator mounted in the bottom of the combustion chamber to shift the position of the solid combustible load as well as to break up the carbonized residue. The agitator is powered by a reversible motor and gearbox assembly to provide a slow-motion reversible action for the agitator.

FIG. 3 is a top, cross sectional plan view taken generally along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and looking down into the combustion chamber at the left side to view the construction of the chamber as well as the nature of the agitator mounted adjacent its bottom wall. A group of four fly ash separators is shown in the lower right-hand corner of the view, and a preheater is mounted directly behind the separators. In the upper right-hand corner, there is a single blower motor unit supporting on its through shaft three blower wheels to provide the proper air flow patterns of primary, secondary and tertiary air. Notice that FIG. 2 is taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 3, generally through the center line of the combustion chamber.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional, elevational view of the back of the incinerator taken generally on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3, and showing the reversible motor and gearbox assembly mounted beneath the combustion chamber.

FIG. 5 is a left side, cross sectional elevational view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3 generally through the center of the blower motor unit and adjacent the first cyclone separator, showing the loading door and the access cover both moved into an open position.

FIG. 6 is a block flow diagram showing the main elements of the incinerating process, as well as the various flow patterns for primary, secondary and tertiary air streams.

FIG. 7 is a schematic circuit diagram to show primarily the circuit for controlling the reversible agitator motor means, as well as the electric heating means and, in a general way, the various control components of the incinerator.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Turning now to a consideration of the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown a domestic incinerator l embodying the present invention that is a built-in appliance installed in a base cabinet 11 beneath a kitchen countertop 14, somewhat in the same manner as a built-in automatic dishwasher. The incinerator is adapted to be front loaded through a loading door 16 adjacent the top portion of the front wall and generally near the left side thereof. This door 16 is hinged along its bottom edge, and it is adapted to be locked by a door handle 17 which may be operated for unlocking the door and gaining access to the interior of the incinerator. An ash removal door 18 is shown at the bottom for emptying the ash collecting jars of the fly ash separators.

Referring now to the right side, cross sectional, elevational view of FIG. 2, for a detailed explanation of some of the structural aspects of the incinerator 10, there is an outer incinerator housing 19 of sheet metal, box-like construction that defines the outer limits of the appliance. It will be appreciated that an incinerator is a high temperature apparatus reaching temperatures of about 1,500F. in some areas, and that thermal insulating means must be provided within the housing 19 to insure that the external surface temperatures of the incinerator do not exceed the temperature safety regulations of the Underwriters Laboratories, Inc, covering electric appliances that are to be installed in a living area such as the kitchen or utility room, as distinguished from the basement, the porch or the garage. An air space 21 is first formed behind each outer wall of the housing 19 by means of an insulation guard 22 which has assembled on its innermost side a layer of thermal insulation 23 which substantially completely surrounds the interior of the incinerator housing. The loading door 16 is likewise thermally insulated. This outer wall construction allows for the circulation of relatively cool room air throughout the entire air space 21 for restricting the external temperatures of the housing 19. This air space 2 exhausts out through a duct (not shown) in the vicinity of the exhaust duct 118 of the incinerator at the back thereof.

The incinerator has a combustion chamber 25 formed by a drum-like inner liner 27 and a removable top cover 29 for loading the combustion chamber with solid waste combustibles through the front-loading door 16. The inner liner 27 has a forwardly inclined, semicylindrical front wall 30 that is inclined at about a 60 angle, as is best seen in both FIGS. 2 and 3, and it has a bottom wall 32 that is generally perpendicular to the inclined front wall. There are generally parallel, vertical side walls 33 and 34, and a generally vertical rear wall 36, and finally a horizontal top wall 37 that has a downwardly inclined front portion 38. The removable top cover 29 cooperates with an opening 40 in the inclined top wall 38. Moreover, the removable cover 29 is provided on its underside with a high temperature sealing gasket 42 which is adapted to be compressed tightly against the peripheral flange of the cover opening 40 for rendering the combustion chamber 25 generally airtight during operation, and precluding the escape of heated gases, smoke, odors. vapors and the like into the kitchen.

The bottom wall 32 of the inner liner 27 is furnished with an agitator 80 which is formed in the shape of a circular flat plate 82 having a series of radial vanes 84 fixed to the top surface thereof. The agitator 80 is mounted on a shaft 86 that extends down through the bottom wall 32 and is in turn provided with two electric drive motors 87 and 88 through a speed reducing gearbox 90. One motor 87 is for driving the shaft 86 in one direction and the other motor 88 is for driving the shaft in the other direction. It is appreciated that a single reversible motor could be substituted for these two motors 87 and 88, but it would be much more expensive than the two low cost motors that are employed, such as are used widely in the cooking oven art for rotisserie drive motors. The gearbox 90 is geared down to provide a slow motion turning action of the agitator within the combustion chamber 25, on the order of one or two revolutions per minute. Each motor is a shaded pole, fractional horsepower motor that may be stalled without becoming overheated and inoperative. The gears of the gearbox are also capable of withstanding a stalled rotor condition.

One advantage of having the inner liner 27 with a forwardly inclined semi-cylindrical front wall 30 is that the entire weight of the solid combustibles within the combustion chamber 25 does not rest upon the agitator 80 as would be the case if the inner liner were vertically disposed. Only some of the weight of the load is carried on the agitator and, thus, some of the load tends to be carried along by the agitator. This is especially true of the lower portion of the load. When the combustion chamber is fully loaded, the portion ofthe load near the top may tend to remain stationary, and this varies as the portion of the load is spaced from the agitator. The smooth surface of the semi-spherical front wall 30 tends to facilitate the turning action of the load and prevents interference or jamming of irregularly shaped articles to be burned. Moreover, the reversible action of the agitator tends to free the agitator from being stalled due to jams and it also serves to break up carbonized residue that forms toward the end of the incinerating cycle.

The front-loading door 16 is connected by suitable linkage 45 to the access cover 29 whereby they both move in unison. This means that the opening of the loading door 16 causes the opening of the access cover 29, and vice versa, for ease in loading the combustion chamber. Locking means (not shown) is associated with the door handle 17 of the loading door 16 to insure that both the loading door 16 and hence the access cover 29 remain closed during the incinerating cycle. The loading door 16 is hinged along its bottom edge by means of hinge means 47 assembled between the lower edge of the door 16 and the front panel of the incinerator housing 19. A loading compartment 51 is formed within the incinerator housing 19 between the loading door 16 and the access cover 29 by an inclined rear wall 53 which extends upwardly and forwardly from the rear edge of the access opening 40 of the downwardly inclined top wall 38 to combine with the top insulation guard 22. Similarly, side walls such as 55 are spaced away from the opposite sides of the access opening 40, and they extend from the inclined top wall 38 generally vertically upwardly to cooperate with the top insulation guard 22 to complete the loading compartment 51. The inner side of the door 16 at each edge thereof has a vertical extension plate 49 so that when the door 16 is pivoted to its open position as seen in FIG. 5, these extension plates serve to form a hopper leading to the access opening 40 of the combustion chamber 25 so as to discourage the spillage of waste as the incinerator is being loaded.

The access cover 29 has a pair of generally parallel, integral strap members 57 that are hinged to the back wall 53 of the loading compartment by means of hinge pins 59 that engage in suitable bracket members 60 behind the wall 53. Thus, the cover 29 is capable of being raised or lowered within the loading compartment 51 by means of a pivotal action. The linkage mechanism 45 is furnished between the loading door 16 and the access cover 29 so that the door and the cover move in unison. This linkage mechanism 45 includes an elongated push rod 61 at each side of the access cover outside the side walls 55, where each rod is connected at its lower end to one of the side extension plates 49 near the bottom edge of the front door 16 by means of a pivot pin 62. The upper end of each push rod 61 is pivoted to a crank arm 64 by means of hinge pin 65. The push rod 61 is provided with a compressible action which is formed by two overlapping sections 167 and 168 having pin and slot connections 162, 163, 162 and 163' between the two sections. A coiled spring 165 is confined between the two pins 162, 162 which are arranged at the ends of each push rod section 167 and 168 thereby serving to extend the push rod sections to be as long as possible. The function of the compressible push rods 61, 61 is to permit the access cover 29 to spring open without the necessity of opening the loading door 16, in the event a small explosion should occur in the combustion chamber thereby creating excess pressures that might otherwise damage the internal structure of the incinerator. This crank arm 64 is fixed to a shaft member 67 that is rotatably supported adjacent its ends by bearing members 69 that are fixed to the back side of the wall 53. A pair of crank arms 71 are fixed to the shaft near the center thereof so as to move therewith. A short link member 73 is pivoted to the end of each crank arm 71 as at 74, and is attached at its other end to the strap member 57 of the cover 29 as by pin 76. Thus, when the loading door 16 is opened, this causes the push rod 61 to move upwardly thereby causing the crank arm 64 to rotate in a clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 2 thereby turning the shaft 67 and, in turn, pivoting the crank arm 71 in a clockwise direction which exerts a lifting force on the link member 73 thereby pulling the strap member 57 of the access cover 29 up so that the cover pivots about its hinge axis 59 to an open position as shown in FIG. 5.

Notice what happens when the loading door 16 is moved to its closed position as shown in FIG. 2. This causes the push rod 61 to be pulled downwardly by its lower pin 62 thereby causing the crank arm 64 to move in a counterclockwise direction which causes the second crank arm 71 to move in the same direction thus putting a compressive force on the link member 73 tending to straighten out the link member 73 to be in general alignment with the crank arm 71 so that the three hinge points 67, 74 and 76 would be generally within a single imaginary line drawn from pin 67 through pin 76. This is not possible because the access cover 29 is seated and sealed first, but this jackknife tendency exerts a continuing compressive force on the cover to insure a good sealing action. A suitable slot 78 is cut in the rear wall of the loading compartment 51 to permit each crank arm 71 and strap 57 to extend therethrough. Thus, the crank arms 71 are allowed to move out of the loading compartment 51 as is seen in FIG. 5 when the cover is opened.

The switching of the two counter-rotating motors 87 and 88 is affected by a bimetal reversing switch 92 shown in the schematic circuit diagram of FIG. 7. This switch 92 has a normally closed set of switch contacts 94 that are connected in series with the motor 88 across line L1 and neutral conductor N. Arranged in parallel with the motor winding 88 is a heater 95 such that when the circuit is closed the first motor 88 will be energized at the same time as the heater 95 until the heater reaches a temperature which causes the bimetal switch 92 to snap to its alternate position. This would cause the switch contacts 94 to open and result in the closing of a second set of normally open switch contacts 97. This second set of switch contacts 97 is arranged to be in series with the second motor 87 so that the two motors 87 and 88 function alternately to turn the agitator in counterrevolutions as a function of the heater 95 in cooperation with the bimetal switch actuator. Thus, there is a cycle causing the bimetal operated switch 92 to function back and forth every 2 to 3 minutes. Since the agitator turns at about one revolution per minute, it will turn in one direction about two or three revolutions and then it will stop and turn in the reverse direction for about the same length of time.

The motor drive circuits for the agitator 80 of the present invention are the only changes in the circuit diagram of FIG. 7 from the circuit diagram in the earlier filed application of the same inventor, application Ser. No. 207,161 entitled, Solid Waste Incinerator now Pat. No. 3,742,874. Rather than describe the complete circuit diagram in detail here, mere reference will be made to the principle elements of the circuit since the entire circuit does not form part of the present invention, but is covered in the prior application.

With reference to the circuit diagram of FIG. 7, this incinerator model is provided with a three-wire electrical service; nominally, of 230 volts, single phase, 60 cycle A.C., which is usually available in the average residence having adequate wiring. This voltage source has a pair of line wires L1 and L2 and a grounded neutral conductor N, there being about I 15 volts measured either between line L1 or L2 and neutral N and 230 volts measured between the two line wires L1 and L2. The heating means for the incinerator is in the form of a preheater resistance element 100 and a main resistance heater 101 which are connected in series across lines L1 and L2 at 230 volts by means of leads 103 and 105. A first door interlock switch 106 is connected in lead 103 and a second door interlock switch 107 is connected in lead 105. These two normally open switches 106 and 107 are joined together to act in unison. When the incinerator loading door 16 is closed and locked, the two door interlock switches 106 and 107 will be closed to complete the circuit through the heating means 100 and 101. The incinerator loading door 16 has a door lock 17, with the lock mechanism not shown, but its function is to insure that the incinerator cycle cannot be initiated unless the door 16 is first closed and then locked. The lock mechanism cooperates with the door interlock switches 106 and 107 to close these switches when the door is fully locked. Once the incinerator temperature rises above about 350F., a door interlock thermostat 110 operates to deenergize a door latching solenoid 112 such that it is not possible to unlock the door when the temperature within the combustion chamber 25 is above 350F. This type of door latch system would be similar to that taught in the Getman Pat. No. Re. 26,944, which is assigned to the General Electric Company, the assignee of the present invention. The door lock mechanism 17 has an automatic locking bolt 114 that is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 7. This automatic locking bolt is a pivoted, spring biased member that automatically engages within a keeper 115 of a movable rod 116 of the mechanism of the door lock 17 when it is in the closed position. A momentary contact switch 117 serves to close the solenoid circuit to deactivate the locking bolt 114 so that the door lock mechanism can be operated.

There are two indicator lights 119 and 120 con nected across line L1 and neutral conductor N. The first indicator light 119 or OPEN light indicates when the loading door 16 is locked and the incinerator is operating except that it is still possible to open the door at will. The second indicator light 120 or LOCKED light operates alternately with the first light such that it indicates when the temperature in the incinerator combustion chamber 25 reaches above 350F. at which time it is not possible to unlock and open the door 16 until such time as the temperature drops below about 350F. This indicator lighting arrangement 119 and 120 is obtained by use of the door interlock thermostat 110 which functions at the preset temperature of about 350F. This thermostat 110 has a normally closed switch 135 adapted to be in series circuit with light 119 and an alternate normally open switch 137 adapted to be in series circuit with the light 120.

A third motor is present in the circuit; that is, blower motor 122, which is best seen in the cross sectional plan view of FIG. 3 for driving a series of three blower wheels 123, 124 and 125, as will be further explained with relation to the block flow diagram of FIG. 6. The blower motor 122 is arranged to be connected in parallel with the LOCKED light 120 and to be in series with the door interlock thermostat 110 such that the blower 'motor 122 is energized after the door interlock thermostat 110 operates at its critical temperature of about 350F.

There is an over-temperature protective thermostat 125 arranged in series with both the preheater 100 and the main heater 101. This thermostat is normally closed and it opens when the temperature within the main heater compartment reaches about 1,500F. This protects the incinerator from runaway conditions and deenergizes the heating elements 100 and 101 whenever the temperatures become excessive.

A third thermostat, a logic thermostat 127, is utilized to control a primary air inlet damper 129 that is located at the inlet ofa primary air duct 130, as is shown in the bottom rear of FIG. 2. This logic thermostat 127 is calibrated to operate at a temperature within the combustion chamber 25 of about 800F. When it does trip, it energizes both a bimetal relay 131 and relay 132 which controls the damper 129.

It has been deemed preferable to locate the incinerator heating means 101 so that it will not be in direct contact with the trash or solid combustible load. The heating means could be located within the combustion chamber 25 adjacent the top of the inner liner 27 and away from the opening 40. However, in the preferred embodiment, as best seen in FIG. 2, the heating means 101 is located in a main heater compartment 135 which is positioned at the front of the incinerator housing generally beneath the forwardly inclined semispherical front wall 30 of the inner liner 27. This heating means 101 is a resistance heating element of bare wire form, such as nichrome wire that is supported on a series of ceramic insulators or spools 136 in such a way that it is wound a plurality of turns on each spool and then strung to the adjacent spool 136 and again a plurality of turns are wound on that spool before leading the wire 101 to the next spool. The wattage of this heater wire 101 is about 3000 watts.

Turning attention to the gas flow block diagram of FIG. 6, primary air enters the combustion chamber 25 through the open damper 129 after the chamber temperature rises above about 350F. This primary air passes through duct 140 and it passes through the load and is drawn into the first blower wheel 123 that is located adjacent the top wall 37 of the combustion chamber. This blower wheel 123 has a split scroll 142, as seen in FIG. 2, having a first downwardly inclined discharge duct 144 within the combustion chamber 25, and a second generally horizontal discharge duct 146 which leads out of the combustion chamber and discharges into a fly ash separator 148 in the form of a series of four cyclone separators for separating the fly ash from the flue gases. The first discharge duct 144 is for sending a blast of air down into the combustion chamber so that the air is able to reach the many isolated air pockets within the solid combustibles so as to support combustion thereof. The gas passes from the fly ash separator 148 to a preheater unit 150 which contains the supplementary heater element of about 3,000 watts for raising the temperature of the gas to a maximum of about l,l00F. before the gas is delivered to the main heater chamber with its main heater 101 of another 3,000 watts for raising the gas temperature to a maximum of about 1,500F. when most of the smoke, odors and vapors are consumed.

From the main heater chamber 135, part of the gas is returned to the combustion chamber 25 and recirculated. The remaining amount of the gas is delivered to an afterburner unit 152 which is located beneath the main heater compartment 135.

Since there is a reduced amount of oxygen in the gases discharging from the main heater compartment 135, a supply of secondary air is provided for the afterburner 152 so as to oxidize the combustibles that might still be entrained in the flue gases. This secondary air is brought into the incinerator housing by means of the second blower wheel 124 shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. The function of the secondary air is to cool the windings of the blower motor 122 as well as to cool down the walls of the combustion chamber 25 and finally to supply oxygen to the afterburner 152 for oxidizing the combustibles in the flue gases.

A third blower wheel 125 is part of an exhaust system which is arranged downstream of the afterburner 152. But first, it is well to insure that there are no combustibles in the flue gases exhausting from the afterburner 152 that might reach the blower wheel 125. This assurance is provided by a flame box 154 that is generally an elongated box-like construction that is formed up the back side of the incinerator housing generally behind the preheater and beneath the blower motor 122. It is also desirable to provide a source of room air or tertiary air for the flame box. This tertiary air is drawn into the flame box by means of the exhaust blower 125 to further oxidize the combustibles in the flue gases before they are returned to the outside atmosphere by means of a suitable duct extending through a kitchen wall.

Modifications of this invention will occur tothose skilled in this art, therefore, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that it is intended to cover all modifications which are within the true spirit and scope of this invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An incinerator comprising a housing enclosing a combustion chamber, an access cover for loading the chamber with solid combustibles, and means for sealing the cover during the operating cycle, heating means for igniting and degrading the combustibles, the combustion chamber being formed by an inner liner means having a forwardly inclined semi-cylindrical front wall means, and a substantially imperforate bottom wall means in combination with a slow-motion, motordriven agitator in the bottom of the combustion chamber for shifting the position of the solid combustible load, said inner liner means serving to carry some of the weight of the solid combustible load on the inclined front wall means so as to reduce the load on the agitator and prevent it from becoming jammed.

2. An incinerator as recited in claim 1 wherein the motor-driven agitator has an alternately reversible motor means with short operating cycles.

3. An incinerator as recited in claim 1 wherein the incinerator housing is substantially box-like and the bottom wall of the inner liner is arranged in a substantiallyperpendicular plane with respect to the said forwardly inclined front wall, while the back wall, opposite side walls, and the top wall of the inner liner are substantially parallel with adjacent outer walls of the incinerator housing, a portion of the said top wall being downwardly inclined to substantially parallel the said bottom wall, the said access cover being associated with the inclined portion of the top wall so as to provide room for opening the cover and loading the combustion chamber.

4. An'incinerator for solid waste comprising an outer box-like housing enclosing a combustion chamber formed by an inner liner means and a top-opening access cover sealing means for rendering the cover substantially airtight, the inner liner means having a forwardly inclined semi-cylindrical front wall means, generally vertical parallel side wall means, a substantially imperforate bottom wall means that lies in a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the said front wall means, a generally vertical rear wall means, and a top wall means with a downwardly inclined front portion which includes an access opening associated with the said access cover for loading the waste into the combustion chamber. and a slow-motion motor-driven agitator located adjacent the said bottom wall means for shifting the position of the solid waste load, said inner liner means serving to carry some of the weight of the solid waste load on the inclined front wall means so as to reduce the load on the agitator and prevent it from becoming jammed.

5. An incinerator for solid waste as recited in claim 4 wherein the motor-driven agitator is provided with alternately reversible motor means with short cycles.

6. An incinerator as recited in claim 4 wherein the front wall of the outer housing has a loading door connected by suitable linkage to the said access cover whereby they move in concert, and locking means associated with the loading door to insure that both the loading door and access cover remain closed during the incinerating cycle.

7. An incinerator as recited in claim 6 with panel means substantially closing the space between the access opening in the top wall of the inner liner and the adjacent walls of the outer housing to form a loading compartment, the loading door being hinged along its bottom edge to the outer housing and having inner extension plates attached to the opposite sides of the door and adapted to telescope with respect to the side walls of the loading compartment to form a hopper leading to the access opening of the combustion chamber.

8. A domestic incinerator comprising a box-like housing enclosing a combustion chamber formed by an inner liner and a top-opening access cover, sealing means for rendering the cover substantially airtight, the front wall of the housing having a loading door, and linkage means connected between the door and the access cover whereby they move in concert, and locking means associated with the loading door to insure that both the loading door and the access cover remain closed during the incinerating cycle, the said linkage means being provided with a compressible section such that if excessive pressures were to build up in the combustion chamber, the access cover would be allowed to open slightly and relieve the pressure before it is automatically closed again by the compressible linkage means.

9. A domestic incinerator as recited in claim 8 with hinging means for mounting the access cover to the inner liner, the said linkage means comprising a push rod connected to the loading door at oneend and to a first crank arm at the other end, the said first crank arm being fixed to a movably supported shaft member, a second crank arm fixed to the shaft member, and a link member connected at one end to the second crank arm and at its other end to the access cover, the closing action of the loading door tending to align the second crank arm with the link member thereby applying a strong closing and sealing force on the access cover.

10. A domestic incinerator as recited in claim 9 wherein the said linkage means between the loading door and the access cover is located on each side of the access cover. 

1. An incinerator comprising a housing enclosing a combustion chamber, an access cover for loading the chamber with solid combustibles, and means for sealing the cover during the operating cycle, heating means for igniting and degrading the combustibles, the combustion chamber being formed by an inner liner means having a forwardly inclined semi-cylindrical front wall means, and a substantially imperforate bottom wall means in combination with a slow-motion, motor-driven agitator in the bottom of the combustion chamber for shifting the position of the solid combustible load, said inner liner means serving to carry some of the weight of the solid combustible load on the inclined front wall means so as to reduce the load on the agitator and prevent it from becoming jammed.
 2. An incinerator as recited in claim 1 wherein the motor-driven agitator has an alternately reversible motor means with short operating cycles.
 3. An incinerator as recited in claim 1 wherein the incinerator housing is substantially box-like and the bottom wall of the inner liner is arranged in a substantially perpendicular plane with respect to the said forwardly inclined front wall, while the back wall, opposite side walls, and the top wall of the inner liner are substantially parallel with adjacent outer walls of the incinerator housing, a portion of the said top wall being downwardly inclined to substantially parallel the said bottom wall, the said access cover being associated with the inclined portion of the top wall so as to provide room for opening the cover and loading the combustion chamber.
 4. An incinerator for solid waste comprising an outer box-like housing enclosing a combustion chamber formed by an inner liner means and a top-opening access cover sealing means for rendering the cover substantially airtight, the inner liner means having a forwardly inclined semi-cylindrical front wall means, generally vertical parallel side wall means, a substantially imperforate bottom wall means that lies in a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the said front wall means, a generally vertical rear wall means, and a top wall means with a downwardly inclined front portion which includes an access opening associated with the said access Cover for loading the waste into the combustion chamber, and a slow-motion motor-driven agitator located adjacent the said bottom wall means for shifting the position of the solid waste load, said inner liner means serving to carry some of the weight of the solid waste load on the inclined front wall means so as to reduce the load on the agitator and prevent it from becoming jammed.
 5. An incinerator for solid waste as recited in claim 4 wherein the motor-driven agitator is provided with alternately reversible motor means with short cycles.
 6. An incinerator as recited in claim 4 wherein the front wall of the outer housing has a loading door connected by suitable linkage to the said access cover whereby they move in concert, and locking means associated with the loading door to insure that both the loading door and access cover remain closed during the incinerating cycle.
 7. An incinerator as recited in claim 6 with panel means substantially closing the space between the access opening in the top wall of the inner liner and the adjacent walls of the outer housing to form a loading compartment, the loading door being hinged along its bottom edge to the outer housing and having inner extension plates attached to the opposite sides of the door and adapted to telescope with respect to the side walls of the loading compartment to form a hopper leading to the access opening of the combustion chamber.
 8. A domestic incinerator comprising a box-like housing enclosing a combustion chamber formed by an inner liner and a top-opening access cover, sealing means for rendering the cover substantially airtight, the front wall of the housing having a loading door, and linkage means connected between the door and the access cover whereby they move in concert, and locking means associated with the loading door to insure that both the loading door and the access cover remain closed during the incinerating cycle, the said linkage means being provided with a compressible section such that if excessive pressures were to build up in the combustion chamber, the access cover would be allowed to open slightly and relieve the pressure before it is automatically closed again by the compressible linkage means.
 9. A domestic incinerator as recited in claim 8 with hinging means for mounting the access cover to the inner liner, the said linkage means comprising a push rod connected to the loading door at one end and to a first crank arm at the other end, the said first crank arm being fixed to a movably supported shaft member, a second crank arm fixed to the shaft member, and a link member connected at one end to the second crank arm and at its other end to the access cover, the closing action of the loading door tending to align the second crank arm with the link member thereby applying a strong closing and sealing force on the access cover.
 10. A domestic incinerator as recited in claim 9 wherein the said linkage means between the loading door and the access cover is located on each side of the access cover. 